


As You Wish

by Once_Upon_A_Thyme



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Aftercare, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, BDSM, Caning, Dark mages are contractually obligated to be kinky, Dom/sub Play, F/M, Figging, Humiliation, Knifeplay, Light Bondage, Paddling, Prompt Fill, Riding Crops, Rough Oral Sex, Sadistic but Devoted Hubert, Spanking, Vaginal Fingering, Verbal Humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:40:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29307429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Once_Upon_A_Thyme/pseuds/Once_Upon_A_Thyme
Summary: Edelgard confronts Hubert about his sadistic side with a proposition that he dominate the hell out of her. After consideration, Hubert accepts.___________________________________She hesitated, and before she could move, his fingers gripped her by the chin, forcing her head up to look him in the eyes. His grip tightened until the pressure of his fingernails yielded red crescent marks across her pale skin. He savored that moment when her eyes widened and she fully realized what she had unleashed, and when his knife pressed against her throat her gasp sent all of his blood rushing straight downward.“Do not test me,” he growled, trailing the knife’s cold edge down her collarbone and between the dip of her breasts.With a flick of his wrist, he sent the first embossed, gold-foiled button of her jacket flying across the room. Her breath caught as the point dug into her chest, and then with a downward stroke he severed her jacket down the front.“Unless you want all of your clothes to be ruined, I suggest you obey me in a timely manner.” He released his grip on her suddenly, sending her reeling back.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Hubert von Vestra
Kudos: 25





	As You Wish

**Author's Note:**

> \- This is a Three Houses kink fic fill reading: 
> 
> Hubert is a man with needs. That being said, he knows better than to subject Edelgard to such needs.
> 
> Point is, Edelgard finds out about Hubert's darker desires and is genuinely enticed by the idea of him domming the absolute hell out of her.
> 
> tl;dr: Edelgard commands Hubert to fuck and humiliate her and he is extremely conflicted about it.
> 
> -God it feels weird to write a straight paring. I feel like the gay police are going to come for my ass now. Can't resist that sweet, sweet power dynamic and strangely toxic yet wholesome relationship though.
> 
> -No beta or copyediting -- we die like men.
> 
> -As usual, this is my way of procrastination on reading copious amounts of Shakespeare. If you like this and want to enable me further, feel free to leave a kudos or a comment. I thrive on attention.

Hubert stood before Edelgard’s desk as she strove to finish the last of the day’s paperwork. She was deep in concentration, and although he knew she was aware of his presence, neither spoke. He was content to wait until she was finished, however long that may be. His news was not urgent, and he had no other matters to attend to for the evening. He watched her ink-stained hands deftly sharpen her quill with the knife she always carried on her person. Her silver hair glowed in the lamplight, and the hair that had fallen from her careful braids were white in the light. At last, she took the candle burning on her desk and dripped wax over the last piece of parchment, stamping it with the signet ring she had inherited from her father.

The room dimmed as she rose and blew the candle out, leaving only the lamp lit. The darkness collected in the shadows under her eyes. “Thank you, Hubert.”

“It is nothing, Your Majesty.”

Hubert straightened, clasping his hands behind his back. He gave her the day’s brief report and stood awaiting her dismissal. 

“Very well,” she said absently, biting at her lower lip before turning to look at him in full. “Hubert, there is a matter we must discuss.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” 

“There have been rumors for quite some time about your proclivity towards what most people consider unsavory.” 

Hubert blinked in surprise. “I had thought that to be common knowledge, Your Majesty, especially between us. I care not for the blood that stains my hands, as long as yours remain pure.”

Edelgard exhaled in annoyance. “Allow me to be blunt, Hubert. I have heard tales of from the prison guards who claim that your interrogation of prisoners went beyond mere duty, and I have heard similar tales from the soldiers about the women who come to your tent on occasion.”

Hubert did not allow his gaze to falter. “It is true that I take pride in my duties. However, I don’t understand what significance my nocturnal activities have in this conversation, Your Majesty.”

“Hubert.” Edelgard’s voice held an edge of impatience. “Feigning ignorance is unbecoming of you. I have seen those women who bear bruises and knife-marks on their skin. They say you pay them triple their usual rate, and word like that spreads quickly.”

“I am a man of violence,” Hubert said, his voice tense. “That is a fact I will not deny. Do you take issue with my reputation, Your Majesty? If I may, I believe that it serves me well. There are few who would dare offend you when they know what consequences await them by my hand.”

Edelgard moved to sit at the table beside her desk, where a tray of food lay untouched beside an empty teacup. She motioned for Hubert to follow, and he sat across from her. “It is not a matter of reputation. It is personal, Hubert. There… is something I wish to ask of you.”

“My wish is your command, Your Majesty.” She gave him a look, and the vulnerability in her face hit him suddenly. The tension in his shoulders faded, and his defensiveness gave way to curiosity. “Speak it then, Edelgard, and I will do my utmost to fulfil your request.”

“Allow me to satiate you,” Edelgard said.

Hubert recoiled. “Your Majesty—Edelgard—I could never. I am your servant and your friend. I could never… debase you in that way.”

“Why not?” Edelgard pressed. “I know your needs better than anyone else, Hubert, and you mine. There is hunger in your eyes, and you cannot deny it. I see it each time you come from an interrogation with blood still on your boots and wild eyes. You cannot restrain yourself forever—even you do not have such self-control.”

“I—” Hubert could not find the words. “I could not thrust these base desires upon you, Edelgard. Not after what you have been through. What I failed to protect you from. I would rather cut off my hand than have it harm you.”

He startled as her hand clasped his. It was cool, calloused, slender. Her hand was so small he could scarce believe that it could wield an axe as it did. 

“What happened then was no fault of yours,” she said, her voice almost gentle. “I am asking this of you not out of obligation, but out of a… similar desire. It is not an imposition, Hubert, and it will not change our positions outside of this encounter. So do not dare think me so weak as to falter beneath your hand. What I have suffered has steeled me, and I know that you would never truly harm me. So, no more excuses. What do you say?”

“Yes,” Hubert breathed. “I say yes, Edelgard. If that is what you want, then I will not hold back.”

“Good,” Edelgard said. “I will hold you to that promise. If there truly is an emergency, I will say the word “Seiros.” But do not restrain yourself—I wish to see that cold fire in your eyes.”

“Very well,” Hubert said, standing from his chair. “There is no time like the present, then. I trust you have made arrangements not to be disturbed?”

“I am always prepared.”

The smirk on her face was surely meant to goad him, but Hubert would not be manipulated so easily. He carefully removed his leather gloves and set them on the table. “Strip.”  
She hesitated, and before she could move, his fingers gripped her by the chin, forcing her head up to look him in the eyes. His grip tightened until the pressure of his fingernails yielded red crescent marks across her pale skin. He savored that moment when her eyes widened and she fully realized what she had unleashed, and when his knife pressed against her throat her gasp sent all of his blood rushing straight downward.

“Do not test me,” he growled, trailing the knife’s cold edge down her collarbone and between the dip of her breasts.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the first embossed, gold-foiled button of her jacket flying across the room. Her breath caught as the point dug into her chest, and then with a downward stroke he severed her jacket down the front. 

“Unless you want all of your clothes to be ruined, I suggest you obey me in a timely manner.” He released his grip on her suddenly, sending her reeling back. 

She said nothing, but her hands worked quickly to remove the rest of her clothes. Soon she stood bare in front of him, and her smallness shocked him. Despite all her training, she appeared so frail. So… human. He drank in the sight of all the soft parts of herself she kept hidden—the small curve of her stomach and the sweep of her hips, the dip at the small of her back. He could wrap his hands around her waist, small as she was. His emperor, his master, with nothing left to hide behind.

She tipped her chin up defiantly, not hiding her nakedness. Still, he caught the flush on her skin as he trailed his gaze slowly down her body, lingering. 

“Well?” Her hips canted, and she stood impatiently. 

“Did I give you permission to speak?” Hubert crossed the distance between them in one quick stride.

Edelgard shook her head, shrinking back from him ever so slightly before he gripped her by the hair and yanked her forward. The crack in the room was obscenely loud as he struck her sharply across the face. She took a shuddering breath, still looking into his eyes as the print of his hand bloomed pink across her cheek. 

“You will do as I say,” Hubert said lowly into her ear. Her shiver made heat pool in his stomach. “I will tolerate no insolence or disrespect. You asked me for this, and I expect you to know your place. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” she breathed. 

The second time he struck her, blood welled from her split lip. The bloom on her cheek deepened into red, and yet she stared at him still, hungry and willing. 

“Is that how you address a superior?” 

Hubert loosened his grip on her hair and deftly plucked out the pins holding up her braids until her hair tumbled in waves across her shoulders. He watched her struggle with her pride for a moment before relenting, and he thought the barest trace of a smile crossed her face. 

“Yes, sir.” 

The words were sweeter than he could have ever imagined, and the precise control he had been clinging to finally left him. He slammed her against the wall, leaning down to kiss her open-mouthed and ravenous. He tasted the blood on her lip and bit it until he tasted more in his mouth, hot and copper-bright. His bare hands pinned her wrists to the wall beside her, and when her thigh slipped between his legs he couldn’t contain the low, guttural sound of desire that came from his throat. His kisses grew harder, more insistent, and he trailed down to bite the curve where her neck met her shoulder, sucking a livid mark into her skin that she would cover later with the regalia of an emperor. Her breath was hot, stirring his hair and brushing across his skin. She was pliant beneath him, and he wanted nothing more than to bend her until he found her breaking point. This was not enough, not nearly enough for the lust that boiled up within him. 

“On your knees,” he rasped, shoving her down to the floor.

She knelt before him as he unbuttoned his uncomfortably tight trousers and shoved his length into her mouth without ceremony. He gripped her loose hair and pulled hard, until tears welled in her eyes, and held her there while he fucked her quickly and roughly as she fought to take him as far as she could. The sight of Edelgard on her knees with her lips around his cock was nearly enough to send him over the edge, but he pulled her away from him just as quickly. She knelt there still, panting and coughing while he composed himself. It wouldn’t do to finish this early. No, that would not satisfy him tonight. 

Edelgard looked at him expectantly, but wisely said nothing. Hubert pressed the tip of his boot between her legs, and it came away slick. 

“You’re so wet already, just from this.” He pressed harder into her, grinding his boot between her thighs until her breathing hitched. “Wet as a common whore from such careless treatment. Well, you haven’t seen the half of it.”

He continued fucking her this way until her hips quivered with the strain of keeping still. 

“You’re trying so hard to be a good girl,” Hubert said. “Do you think if you behave I’ll reward your obedience?”

Edelgard flushed, and she clenched her teeth to try and stop the little gasps and moans as he picked up the pace. 

“Answer me when I ask you a question.” 

“You told me to obey, and so I am.”

Hubert stopped with a grin. “So you are. We’ll see how long your obedience lasts.” He glanced down at the slickness of his boot and motioned her forward. “You’ve made quite a mess, Edelgard. Clean it up.”

She moved to rise, but Hubert stopped her. 

“No. You have all the tools you need.”

Edelgard blushed even deeper as understanding dawned on her. She opened her mouth as if to argue, and then thought the better of it.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Hubert growled. “You are testing my patience.”

Edelgard leaned forward, attempting to be graceful, ultimately resorting to getting on her hands and knees before him with her ass in the air as she licked the first stripe across his boot. When she had finished, she sat up once more, and her humiliation was plain.

“Now, get up.” 

Hubert watched her rise, graceful still, and it sparked a fire in him. He needed to see her composure broken, needed to see her debauched and begging, with none of her usual pride to obscure her vulnerability. By Saint Seiros, he wanted to see her bloody. 

He undid his fine, leather belt and she shivered in anticipation. 

“Turn around,” he said brusquely. 

She obeyed, startled when he took her hands and quickly bound them together behind her with his belt. Then he shoved her onto the bed and kicked her feet wide until she was bent over and spread before him, bound and bare. 

He wasted no words on flattery—Edelgard knew how beautiful she was and needed no reminders from him. And besides, he would make her more beautiful yet. He would paint her soft skin with stripes of red and pink and colored bruises. He would break her and put her back together again, stronger and more whole. Her riding gear was in a pile in a corner, dripping wet from snow and mud. It was unlike her to be so careless and disorderly. He would have a word with her about it—neatness breeds pride, and pride breeds respect. The riding crop he plucked from the pile was sturdy, used for horses or pegasi, but in the hands of as good a rider as Edelgard, it was all but unnecessary. 

He gave no warning before the first strike, and Edelgard jolted with surprise at how hard the crop lashed against the back of her thighs. It left a welt immediately, but she did not stir, even as the crop whistled down again to mark her other thigh. 

“Tell me, why are your things strewn about your room so haphazardly? One could mistake your bedchambers for that of a commoner if it weren’t for the value of your belongings. There is never an excuse for being disorderly, Edelgard. You must not rely on others to clean up after you, even in private.”

“Hubert, what is the meaning of—”

The rod of the crop lashed viciously across her ass, leaving a solid red line across both cheeks. 

“I don’t understand,” Edelgard gasped. 

“What concept don’t you grasp?” Hubert continued to whip her briskly, until every inch of her backside was an even pink. “Cleanliness is a virtue, and it is above all a habit. It is unbecoming of an emperor to strew their things about so carelessly. What practices you cultivate in private will be the ones you adopt in public, and I need not remind you how important it is to maintain your imperial image.” 

“I understand that,” Edelgard said. “It was a lapse in judgement. I was tired.”

“It was not a lapse in judgement, it was a lapse in discipline.”

Edelgard huffed, even as she squirmed under the crop. “This is ridiculous. Are you chastising me for an untidy room, like some sort of child?” 

Hubert stopped and tossed the crop onto the bed beside her, within her line of sight. He took hold of her by the belt that bound her wrists and swung her around to face him. “You are certainly acting the part of a child, Edelgard. If you expect me to treat you with dignity, then you must earn it.”

“You are not my caretaker,” Edelgard said. “It is of no consequence what the state of my room is, and we both know it.” 

“Is that so?” Hubert stood back, leaving her to stand on her own. “Perhaps you are right, and the state of ones’ room matters little. I hardly need a reason to punish you—in fact, it is often the most satisfying when there is no reason at all. However, there is a matter you are overlooking. An error which you have not only concealed, but lied to me about. Do you know what that error is, Edelgard?”

She swallowed thickly. “No. Sir.” 

“I will give you one chance to admit what you have tried to hide.”

Edelgard scowled. “You said yourself you need no reason to punish me. Why play this foolish game?” 

“This foolish game,” Hubert said as he strode towards her once more, “amuses me.” 

He kissed her hard, pressing her back against the bed to hear her hiss at the sting of her skin against the sheets. He bent down, his hair brushing across her skin and between the dip of her breasts as he took one of her pert nipples in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue and then biting it until she cried out. His hands slid down her shoulders and down where he raked his nails harshly down her sides, all the while teasing her nipple and feeling it harden under his tongue. His nails raked across her stomach and hips, down across her thighs until he dipped his fingers into her wet sex.  
She moaned at his feather-light touches, but he continued teasing her as he moved on to her left nipple, leaving it swollen and red beneath his teeth even while he stroked her lightly. 

“Please, Hubert.” 

Her thighs tensed, and when his long, slender fingers crooked inside her she clenched around them with a tight, wet heat. His mouth trailed down her chest to her stomach, sucking bruises onto her skin, down further to where his fingers worked her quickly. Her thighs shook with the strain of keeping still under his touches, and at the small jerks of her hips he pressed harder into her until her moan became a choked cry. 

“Hubert, I—I’m so close—” 

His fingers left her suddenly, leaving them slick and cold in the air. He stood up and brushed off his coat as if he hadn’t been kneeling between her legs and leaned over her, kissing her almost softly before drawing away and slipping his fingers into her mouth. Her eyes widened at the taste of herself on his fingers, and her tongue rolled tantalizing around the tips of his fingers, teasing.  
“Did you enjoy that?” Hubert asked, taking his fingers out of her mouth and drawing them slowly across her cheek. 

“Yes. Yes, sir.” 

“Do you think you deserve to finish?” 

“I—” Edelgard hesitated, wary of his tone. “I want to, sir. Please.”

“That is not what I asked. I asked if you thought you deserve it.” 

Edelgard bit her lip out of habit and winced as fresh blood flowed from her split lip. “No.”

“No, what? I expect full responses from your answers, Edelgard.” 

“No, I do not think I deserve to finish,” she said quietly.

Hubert raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?” She looked away, but he forced her to meet his eyes. “Tell me, Edelgard.”

“I don’t know,” she said smally. “I don’t know.” 

“Well, then you shall have to try to remember. If you do not deserve a reward, then perhaps you think you deserve punishment.”

“Yes,” Edelgard said. “Please, punish me.” 

“For what shall I punish you?” Hubert asked, as if they were merely having polite dinner conversation. 

Edelgard closed her eyes briefly, then opened them. “You were right. I have been hiding something from you. I didn’t want you to bother, since you’re so busy and have so many responsibilities. You shouldn’t be responsible for… for me as well.”

“Speak,” Hubert commanded. “I will not hear excuses.”

“I have been running myself ragged as of late,” Edelgard admitted. “I could see that you knew, that you were disappointed in me, but I must fulfill my duties as emperor. I cannot fail, not when I am so close to everything I have worked for. That we have worked for. All of us, the whole empire. I cannot let everyone down, and I do not have time for leisure. I… I am sorry for making you worry, Hubert.”

“Is that so?” Hubert stood before her with his arms crossed. His voice was flat, but it held an edge. “You are not the only one who bears the burden of responsibility, Edelgard, and the empire is not your only responsibility. If you are to lead, you must understand that.”

“I do,” Edelgard said.

“Be silent,” Hubert snapped. “You understand nothing. If you truly wished to aide me, you would have taken care of yourself. You would have told me, or asked for help. Shutting yourself away, staying up until morning, making yourself sick—these are selfish acts, Edelgard. They are selfish, and childish. Perhaps in school this type of behavior served you well, but you are in school no longer. Your duties extend past governmental work or war campaigns. They extend to the very core of your being—that is what being a true emperor means. You must leave your self behind and become who you need to be. Do you understand me, Edelgard? In failing yourself you have failed others as well. You have failed me, for my duty is to aide you, and you have denied me that.” 

Tears pricked her eyes, dripping down across her still stinging cheek. “I’m sorry, Hubert.” It was utterly ridiculous how this of all matters made her cry. She had not cried in those dark, hopeless nights when the blood finally dried on her skin, nor in the days after her father had died, nor in the years when she had thought Byleth dead. Why should she cry now at Hubert’s scolding? Why should his words make her so ashamed?

“An apology will not make things right,” Hubert said. “What you require is discipline, and I will teach you a lesson you will not soon forget.”

He came away from her and brought out what looked like a cane, but slimmer and shorter. He swished it experimentally through the air, marveling at its crisp sound. He pulled out the chair to her desk and sat down, placing the short cane on her desk beside her papers. 

“Come,” he said. She came to him and began to bend over his lap, but he pulled her up. “No, you must listen and obey. I did not say to bend over, but if you are so eager for punishment, perhaps we will start early. 

“No, sir,” Edelgard said quickly, standing at his side.

“Very well, then. Obey me properly next time, or I will not be as lenient. You are to kneel facing the corner in front of me and think about why you deserve this punishment.” 

She looked at him silently, surprised.

“What, is this not the feral violence that you expected from me?” Hubert bared his teeth in a grin. “I can show you that if you wish.”

Edelgard shook her head and knelt in the corner as he had asked. 

“Keep your back straight, and do not slouch.” 

Hubert crossed his leg over his knee and took a small book from his coat pocket. With his mind in the state it was in now, he could hardly focus on A Treatise on the Virtues of Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Advanced Economical Practices for Noble Persons of Good Station, but that wasn’t something Edelgard needed to be aware of. Regardless of her intentions, he would not be testing her limits in that way today. The kind of indiscriminate cruelty that he often lusted for did not interest him this evening. Instead, he wished to see Edelgard underneath him, wholly and willingly. He had the patience to wait out her pride, and tonight he had the time as well.

By the time half and hour had elapsed, Edelgard was staring at the motes of dust in the air. He rapped the cane on her desk sharply, and she startled.

Tell me why you are penitent, and three ways you will amend your behavior,” Hubert said, imitating in a way the professor at their sternest. The effect it had on Edelgard was palpable—she sat straighter, and Hubert could see her mind turning to answer his question. He cut her off with a wave of his hand and set the book down on the desk. “Do not attempt to answer—it is clear you have disregarded my instructions, and indeed the very purpose of this exercise. You will write me a three-page report due tomorrow on the responsibilities of the emperor to her people and herself, and for each error you will be soundly whipped.”

Edelgard opened her mouth to protest, but only a strangled sound close to a whimper came out. 

“Do you have any objections?” Hubert asked her coldly. “I know very well your schedule, and you have ample time to write a small report. Consider it reflection and self-improvement, with an added incentive for your motivation. It is clear you require the threat of punishment to truly take these matters seriously, and if that is what it takes to have you thinking of your wellbeing, then so be it.”

“It will be done,” Edelgard said quietly, but the tips of her ears flushed red. 

He called her forward, and she bent across his lap with her hips square against his thighs. The shifting of her hips made him begin to harden again, but he ignored it in pursuit of the task at hand. He tapped the small, thin cane against her backside. 

“Do you know what this is?”

“No, sir.” 

“It is a schoolmaster’s cane, made to punish disobedient students. It is quite short, but it will suit its purpose for today. Since apparently you have forgotten to take care of yourself, this will serve as a reminder. Whenever you sit at your desk in the next few days, you will remember this whipping and the consequences of ignoring your responsibilities.” 

Without further ado, he snapped the cane across her backside, hard enough to welt. Her hands clenched, white-knuckled.

“Did you expect something lighter?” Hubert laughed darkly. “No, when I say that you shall remember this whipping, I mean it, Edelgard.”

He continued whipping her, marking clean, methodical lines from the top of her ass all the way down to the tops of her thighs. When he started on the second row, her hips rolled, grinding into his painfully hard length. He hissed, lashing her across the sensitive bend between her ass and thighs where she would feel it most sitting down. The lashes became fiercer, until she was squirming across his lap. He only threw his leg over hers to pin her firmly against him and continued caning her until the lines of the cane overlapped. 

He paused to admire his work and raked his nails harshly across the welts on her skin. She cried out loudly, bucking forward so that he had to put more of his weight against her to keep her on his lap. With his free hand he yanked her head back by her hair and gripped it tightly, exposing the arch of her throat that pulsed when she swallowed.

“Be still,” he snarled. “You will learn obedience yet.” 

He gave her several more quick, hard lashes until finally the cries she had been muffling broke loud across the room. 

“I’m sorry, Hubert! Please—”

“You are not sorry enough.” He continued whipping her, lighter but so rapidly that she began to struggle against him. When he set the cane on the desk she stilled, and her sobs were the only sound besides his pants of exertion. “Your insolence has grown tiresome.” 

He shoved her roughly from his lap and stalked towards the door. 

“Wait!” Edelgard cried. “I am sorry!”

“When I return, you had best be bending over that bed,” Hubert threatened, striding the short distance to his room and taking the things he had gathered neatly in his bedside drawer, forbidden for the servants to open and locked with a matching key only he possessed. When he came back into Edelgard’s room he found her bend over the bed, her ass red and on display and her hands still bound behind her.

He came behind her and took a small penknife from his pocket. He then shaped the foreign root he had obtained from the kitchens with precision, leaving the peels to fall on the floor. Once it was carved to his satisfaction, he slipped his fingers once more into her mouth while the other pushed the exposed root into her ass. It was slender and already slick with its own juice, but that was by design. 

“What do you taste?” Hubert asked her, removing his fingers from her mouth.

“Ginger,” she replied, her voice falling as she realized what he had put inside of her. 

“You are correct. And as you are wondering about its uses and applications outside of the kitchen, allow me to demonstrate.” He slapped her ass hard with his hand, feeling a plesant sting in his palm, and when she clenched in response she gasped in surprise.

“It… it burns!”

“That it does. It will continue to burn for up to an hour, and clenching will only intensify it. The process, as you may know, is used to improve the carriage of show horses. Perhaps it will improve yours as well.”

Edelgard only gasped as the burn within her increased. Hubert retrieved the second item from his drawer—a carefully carved and polished paddle, which he had made himself following an instructive session with Hanneman. It was nowhere near as refined as the professor’s works, but it need not be to be effective. One sharp strike pushed Edelgard further against the bed and sent her biting back a string of curses as the effects of the ginger mingled with the formidable sting of the paddle across her welts.

“How many more shall I give you?” Hubert asked.

“I—I don’t know.” It was evident that her head was muddled, and her voice slurred as if she had drunk too many glasses of strong wine. 

“Take fifteen more, and I shall reward you.” 

A small, choked sound escaped her. “Yes,” she whispered.

“Edelgard,” Hubert said sternly. “Tell me honestly—can you take fifteen more?” 

“I…” Edelgard considered for a long moment, then nodded. “Yes. I can. I want them.”

“Very well,” Hubert said, watching her closely as the second strike hit. She moaned deeply, rutting her hips shamelessly against the bed, but did not seem to be overwhelmed. He would trust her, then, as he trusted her with his life. She knew her limits more than anyone, and perhaps she needed this as much as he. “Count them. That was two.” 

“Two,” Edelgard echoed. The next strike was harder, and she cried out despite herself. “Three!”

The following three strikes were rapid, directly in the center where the paddle hit hardest above the ginger inside of her. She clenched, her legs shaking uncontrollably and a high whine coming from her throat. 

“Six,” she growled. “Don’t you dare hold back.”

Any inhibition he had been holding onto disappeared at her words. The last strikes were savage, meant to draw even heavier sobs from her small frame. At the last stroke he dropped the paddle and kicked off his boots and trousers, pulling his coat and shirt over his head with inelegant haste. He pressed his lips to her face, tasting her tears and then her mouth before drawing back and retrieving a small vial of scented oil from the heap of his clothes. He slicked himself with rough strokes, unbearably hard and already leaking, and plucked the ginger from her. He poured the cold oil directly onto her hole, pushing one finger inside, then two. 

“I can take it,” Edelgard said. 

He slapped her ass, if only to hear her broken cry again, and thrust into her unceremoniously, stopping only for a moment before pulling back and thrusting all the way to the hilt. Her breath hitched in another cry, and he kept up the punishing pace, past any semblance of tenderness. His fingers gripped her hips as he slammed into her, and with each slap of his hips against her reddened and bruised ass, she sobbed again, her voice high with pain and pleasure and the promise of release. He came after only a few minutes of quick, hard thrusts, and spilled into hot and dripping. 

After a brief moment’s respite, he rolled onto the bed with her, panting as he undid the belt that bound her wrists. He rubbed the feeling back into her hands with rough touches, drawing moans from her mouth and sealing it with his own. 

“Please,” Edelgard begged, past all pretense of pride. “Please, Hubert!”

“Say it,” he rasped. 

“Please, let me finish!”

He had no further patience for teasing or questions. It was clear that the desperation in her voice was real, and he had no doubt that in this moment she would obey him without question. He stroked his thumb across the print of his hand still livid against her cheek and slipped his fingers deep inside of her waiting wetness. 

“Goddess!” Edelgard gripped him tightly, legs spread wide for him and her fingernails digging into his shoulder-blade. “Yes, Hubert, yes!” 

It did not take longer for her to finish, thoroughly ruining the sheets and coating his hand in sticky warmth. She slumped against him, exhausted and stripped of all other thoughts but sleep and a warm bath. The fire within him was gone as well, and in its place was something altogether warmer and fuller. Hubert allowed himself to rest his head against hers as she clasped their hands together.

“Your Majesty,” he said finally, his voice cracked but gentle, “it is late. Rise, and I will draw a bath for you myself.”

“No,” she protested. “And it is Edelgard still. Do not think the only time we are close is when there is no space between us, Hubert. That’s foolish.” 

Hubert laughed softly. “Yes, Edelgard.” He set his hand gently upon her breast, feeling the rise and fall of her chest and the steady beat of her heart. “Did I… Was that…?”

“It was what we needed,” Edelgard said. “And, Hubert?”

“Yes?”

“I… this may seem foolish, but… did you mean those things you said?” 

“I meant only that I care for you deeply, Edelgard, and it pains me to see you disregard yourself so carelessly.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, tentatively. Tenderness was somehow harder than violence, and yet neither of them could do without both. “In truth, I am very proud of your accomplishments as emperor, but those accomplishments do not need to be at your own expense.”

“I… I understand.” Edelgard placed her lips against his throat, almost absently, and he shivered when they ghosted his skin. “I will be more careful, for both of our sakes. And… one more thing, Hubert.”

He murmured in assent, distracted by her lips. 

“Do you still intend for me to write that report for you?”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the hesitancy in his voice. “Do you wish to? I meant what I said, but our session has ended, and you are master once again. You may do as you please.”

“Don’t tease me, Hubert,” Edelgard sounded indignant, but her lips smiled against his skin. “Perhaps you were right—I do seem to be more responsible when others are holding me accountable. And I… I did mean what I said, that I would obey you.”

“Then I expect it on my desk by tomorrow evening,” Hubert said simply. “Now, onto more pressing matters.” He got up from bed reluctantly despite her protests and came to her side. “I cannot allow you to go to sleep in such a state. Please, allow me to attend to you.”

“Very well,” Edelgard said, her tone tinged with playful imperiousness. “On one condition.”

“And what would that be?” 

“That you stay by my side tonight.” 

Hubert smiled. “Of course, Your Majesty. Always.” Then he took her in his arms and carried her to the bathtub where he settled in beside her after drawing the hot water, and after that, neither of them needed to speak. It was enough to be content in silence, wrapped in soft darkness and the warmth of each other’s arms.


End file.
